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Doctor insights on:
Is Peripheral Artery Disease Reversible

1

Vary Widely:
The symptoms can include pain, numbness, weakness, wounds, gangrene, or slow healing of the affected extremity. The most common early sign is claudication, which is defined as muscle discomfort or cramping brought on by exercise & relieved with rest. Chronic pain in the leg or foot, often a achiness or burning, is also common. Get testing w/ ultrasound or blood pressures of the legs by vascular MD
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Arteries are defined as blood vessels which carry blood away from the heart (to either the body or lungs). Arteries: higher pressure, thicker walls, stretch (pulse) with each heart contraction & deliver blood to the arterioles which control the flow to individual capillaries. Veins are blood vessels which carry blood from capillaries back to the heart (body to right heart; lungs to left heart).
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2

Narrowed arteries:
Peripheral artery disease refers to a condition in which your leg arteries become narrowed due to atherosclerosis which limit the blood flow to your legs. It is usually rare in people that are less than 40 years of age but depending on risk factors and family history one can develop it earlier. Can be diagnosed by taking blood pressure at your legs and comparing it to the arms.
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3

Artery Disease Legs:
Peripheral artery disease, or "pad" is a blood vessel condition that is usually the result of progressive plaque build-up within the walls of arteries than leads to blockage of blood flow. It can cause leg pain when walking, usually in the calves, pain at rest in the foot or leg, leg numbness or tinlging, coldness or discoloration of the skin, foot or leg ulcers, gangrene, poor healing of wounds.
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5

Peripheral Artery:
The symptoms can include pain, numbness, weakness, wounds, gangrene, or slow healing of the affected extremity. The most common early sign is claudication, which is defined as muscle discomfort or cramping brought on by exercise & relieved with rest. Chronic pain in the leg or foot, often a achiness or burning, is also common. Get testing w/ ultrasound or blood pressures of the legs by vascular MD
...Read more

6

Low fat/cholesterol:
The development of peripheral arterial disease (pad) is multi-factorial. Diet is one of the many contributing factors. This link gives a good general overview and also has references for more in depth.

8

It simple:
A low-salt low-fat diet is the best for peripheral artery disease. There is no one food that is magical or in some way particularly curative of the condition. Overall lifestyle changes are always the most effective.
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9

Yes but rare:
If experiencing symptoms you can get evaluation of circulation by pressure measurements and ultrasound. If family history is strong you should have in depth lipid profile. Best things you can do are not smoke, eat well, and be active, at least 30-40 minutes 4-5 days a week of some type of exercise. Further therapy would be dictated by lab and other test results.
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17

Both:
Are diseases of the arteries. Vasculitis refers to inflammatory diseases of the arteries also called arteritis. Pad typically refers to atherosclerosis or "hardening of the arteries.".
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18

Inflammatory Pattern:
Peripheral vascular disease refers to the blockage of blood vessels (doesn't include heart or brain vessels). This can happen from atherosclerosis, emboli or clot formation. Vasculitis diseases are a subset of peripheral vascular disease which cause inflammatory destruction of vessels. This can affect large vessels (takayasu's arteritis) and small vessels (buerger's disease).
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19

No:
No, there is no relationship between Epinephrine and vascular disease. However, Epinephrine does increase peripheral vascular resistance. It does this by causing all the little muscles in the arteries and capillaries to clamp down. This increases someone's blood pressure.
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20

Not proven:
Dear Mr. DLow, I might need more time to do a more thorough search for you. So far, I have found more studies associating agent orange with cancer. I found this one:http://www. Ncbi. Nlm. Nih. Gov/pubmed/24137524I can keep looking but probably the association has not been found to be strong enough. I will keep browsing. I hope this helps.
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23

Ultrasound:
A general idea of vascular disease can be assessed on a physical exam (pulse exam, capillary refill, temperature, color of skin, non-healing wounds) and history (pain at rest, claudication). However an arterial duplex scan (ultrasound) is the most objective way to evaluate someone for peripheral vascular disease.
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24

Great difference!:
First, both can co-exist! However, blockage of the arteries in pad, is the cause of pain, usually brought on by extertion and much more rapid build up of lactic acid. Restless lef syndrome occurs without exertion, usually at night. Pad is associated with smoking, bad cholesterol profile, diabetes, and hypertension, while restless leg syndrome is independent of these vascular disease factors!
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25

Depends on disease:
You should not fly at all if you have unstable angina (resting or worsening chest pain or trouble breathing or symptoms that your doctor has said are heart failure), abnormal heart rhythms, or heart failure bad enough that you are unable to perform everyday activities. Otherwise, if your oxygen saturation is 95% or less at rest, you should wear oxygen during the flight if you have heart disease.
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30

Question?:
Hi, you are too young to have Peripheral Artery dx and heart Dx, I suggest that you stop smoking if you do, lose weight if overweight, exercise regularly. Please ask the specific question that you have and we will answer.Good luck.
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31

Generalization:
Peripheral vascular disease is often a marker for someone who has vascular disease throughout their body, usually due to smoking, genetics, and diet issues, to name a few causes. As such they are at high risk for symptoms in the other critical vascular beds in the body like the heart and brain.
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32

Neurologist:
Memory problems, leg pain. A general neurologist may be able to address both of these. Unfortunately there are only 5 neurologists in Florida who are certified in Behavioral Neurology (memory disorders) (Two in Jacksonville, two at the University of Florida in Gainsville and one in St Pete. The leg pain may be in part due to neuropathy. The ANA being positive must be taken with a grain of salt.
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33

Varies:
If you only have pain with walking, exercise, not smoking, and medications can be used. If you have pain at night, or sores, or your doctor has told you that the blockage is severe, you will need either endovascular procedures or open surgery.
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36

You can slow it down:
We start to develop atherosclerosis in our 30's and generally it progresses as we age. People who have a family history of heart disease or stroke are more susceptible. You can slow down the progression of this disease by watching your cholesterol, keeping your blood pressure in check, attaining your ideal body weight and quitting smoking. Regular exercise, stress management and good eating helps!
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39

See someone:
Ruby, your mom is at risk for a lot of things and already has significant diseases. If she is on any kind of blood thinner, this could be just a bruise but bruises don't normally "burn". So she should really talk to, and ideally see her doctor and soon.
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40

Not really:
Peripheral vascular disease is not necessarily reversible, but its risk can be successfully managed. The pillars of treatment are, 1) smoking cessation, 2) anti- platelet therapy (aspirin/ plavix), and 3) statin therapy to lower cholesterol. There have been anecdotal reports of plaque reversal but this does not happen for everybody.
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